Biopriming of seeds with plant growth promoting bacteria Pseudomonas fluorescens for better germination and seedling vigour of the East Indian sandalwood

The East Indian sandalwood ( Santalum album L), one among the valued timber species in the global market due to its sweet-scented heartwood, is facing a drastic decline of its natural populations over the past three decades. The major constraint in the regeneration of sandal is the slow, staggered, and poor germination of the seeds. The germination may continue even up to one year. The present investigation focused on the impact of biopriming on the germination and seedling performance in sandal. Fresh mature seeds of sandal were procured from the Nachivayal Reserve Forest, Marayur Sandal Division. The seeds were subjected to 16 biopriming treatments using Pseudomonas fluorescens at 4 concentrations (25, 50, 75 and 100%) and 4 durations (2, 4, 6, and 8 days). The results revealed that the biopriming at 100% for 8 days recorded the highest germination percentage (88%) within 21 days with lowest energy period (15 days) and highest germination energy (62.98%). Biopriming at 50% concentration for 8 days was the next best treatment which improved the germination of sandal seeds and the lowest germination percentage was recorded in control seeds (46%). With regard to the seedling growth, the biopriming treatment contributed a significant increase in growth attributes of the seedlings. We recommend the biopriming with Pseudomonas fluorescens at 100% for 8 days as a potential technique to enhance seed germination and seedling growth in sandal.